The best way to enjoy this comic is to forget that it’s based on an established series by a beloved author and take it as a standalone. I admittedly forgot this as I read and reviewed the previous issue, and my nerd rage got the better of me. So, for issue #4, I was determined to judge the story and characters on their own merits, rather than hold them to an impossibly high standard by miring them in my own wistful nostalgia. And . . . it appears to have worked. I actually enjoyed this issue significantly more than I did the previous ones.

If you’ll recall, Dirk is now in San Diego, where he’s become embroiled in . . . way too much stuff to recall here. The main plot has to do with two ancient Egyptians come to modern times, one of whom is an evil, power-mad, wannabe deity, rapidly spiraling out of control as he prepares to rain chaos down upon our modern civilization, and the other of whom is pretty chill. There’s also a husband-and-wife serial killing team, along with the CIA, and some magical, golden cell phones. There are so many characters that it’s difficult to flesh out their personalities properly, but there’s still some fun banter between them, and I’ll admit I laughed a few times.

It occurs to me that this story, with all of its complex, fantastically strange twists and turns, is less reminiscent of Douglas Adams, and more reminiscent of Robert Rankin’s Brentford Trilogy, which also contains a series of increasingly complicated and far-fetched events, and is also written by a very funny British man. And, much like Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide trilogy, it also contains far more than three books. I suppose that’s all neither here nor there, but I do enjoy Rankin’s works, so even if this comic doesn’t read like Douglas Adams, to say it reads like the Brentford books is still a pretty decent compliment.

So, yes, this comic is a fun read. It’s not perfect, but it’s fairly worthwhile, and I’m finally starting to enjoy it. Next month is the final issue, and I can honestly say I look forward to seeing where all of this is going.